Prankster in Training
by TheSummerNightingale
Summary: When first-year Hermione Granger reveals her ability to tell the Weasley twins apart, Fred and George decide that she is fit to be their prankster in training. And when she asks them a favor, their conditions are simple: become their prankster. Forced into training in her fifth year, Hermione finds that while she will never approve of pranks, the twins aren't as bad as they seem.
1. Prologue I

**Hey, everyone! I'm Summer and here's another crazy idea I've got for a story :) So I've recently discovered that Fremione is my OTP and that writing the characters of the Weasley twins is _so much fun_, and I just simply had to start writing about them! And here's the result of that: The beginning of a new long journey that will probably take me forever to finish. But I can already feel that it'll be worth the while :)**

**I'm going to try to keep this as canon as possible - at least, as canon as I can keep it with remaking the relationship between Fred, George, and Hermione. But enough of this A/N - I hope you enjoy this first part!**

* * *

Hermione Granger was eleven years old when she met Frederick Gideon and George Fabian Weasley.

She hadn't known who they were, of course. If she had, there was not a chance that Hermione, the picture perfect student, would have voluntarily associated with Hogwart's current two most infamous pranksters.

But unfortunately, this particularly valuable piece of information was not revealed to the first-year until a week after they had rather courteously aided her with her trunk on the Hogwarts Express on the first day of school. And by then, well, the Gryffindor bookworm didn't exactly have a choice in her interacting with the two, because the Weasley twins made it for her.

* * *

"Hullo. Do you want some help?"

The voice startled her a bit, but she was thankful that someone had noticed her struggling and could aid her. Hermione tried to muster out a "Yes, please", but the crushing weight of her trunk scarcely allowed her to breathe, let alone speak.

"Here. _Wingardium Leviosa._" The trunk was lifted out of her hands, and Hermione watched in wonder as magic brought her trunk from her arms to the shelf in the compartment.

"That's two that we've helped today," someone said from directly behind her, clapping his hands.

Hermione spun around. "We've?" she repeated, but the word was already dying off her lips as she said, "Oh."

She briefly wondered if all this talk of magic and witnessing some in front of her eyes was fooling with her senses, because there appeared to be two of the exact same person standing in front of her.

The two boys, who were both a head taller than her, had matching flaming red hair, sparkling blue eyes, and loose smiles on their faces.

"Thank you," she addressed them, subconsciously rubbing her eyes and blinking at them in slight disbelief. The two seemed to be exactly alike, but surely there was something that would distinguish one from the other?

"No problem." The boy on the right winked and said, "We always love-"

"-to help-" the identical boy on the left continued.

"-a damsel in distress!" The two, obviously twins, grinned at the slightly startled expression on her face.

"You're a first year, right?" The one on the left said.

Hermione's face brightened. "Yes, I am! You two aren't, though, right?"

"Clever," the right one said. "We're third years."

"What House do you want to be in?"

Hermione bit her lip indecisively. She'd spent the past month trying to decide where she would fit best. Ravenclaw was the clear choice - intelligence was something she valued above nearly everything in the entire world, and yet, the emblem of the bronze eagle set on the blue background did not entirely _sit_with her.

The twins, picking up on her hesitation, said simultaneously, "We're Gryffindors, by the way."

"Gryffindor sounds alright," Hermione nodded eagerly. "Perhaps Ravenclaw."

"No, no, not Ravenclaw," stated the twin on the left with a stern face. "Gryffindor is where all of the excitement happens! Good wizards always come out of Gryffindor."

"I know," said Hermione proudly, calling upon the knowledge she'd obtained from her school books. "Professor Dumbledore was one of them."

"Oh, ol' Dumbly," said one of them with a chuckle.

Hermione recoiled, horrified at the informality that he was using. Evidently, the other twin on the left spotted this because he nudged his brother and said, "Oi, you mean _Professor _Dumbledore, don't you, George?"

George - the twin on the right - smirked and nodded. "Yes, _Professor _Dumbledore." He paused, as if remembering his manners. "Oh! Completely forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm George Weasley, and that bloke over there is Fred Weasley, who is, unfortunately for me, my twin."

"Ah, Georgie is just jealous of my natural charm and good looks," said Fred pleasantly.

"Hermione Granger," she said, extending out a hand.

Fred grasped the side with the palm of her hand while George slipped his hand over the back of hers.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Hermione Granger," said Fred with a bow as the three awkwardly shook hands.

Fred and George stayed for only a minute or so more before they excused themselves to go look for their younger brother, who they said was in her year.

Hermione closed the compartment door behind them. She sat down on the comfortable seats of the train compartment, breathing in the silence. She loved silence. Once, she'd proudly told her mother that if she had to describe the sound of books, it would be silence, because silence meant that she could read, and reading meant books.

But Hermione was well aware that her nerves and excitement would currently overpower her patience to read, and so did not attempt to take out one of the many books she'd brought from home to reread.

Instead, she thought about Hogwarts. She thought about what the two twins had told her about Gryffindor. And she thought that if there were people as nice, even though they'd been rather animated, as the Weasley twins in Gryffindor, she'd like it there.

* * *

Their next real encounter took place three weeks after the Sorting, in the Gryffindor common room. Hermione had been diligently working on her Potions essay in the corner - she was determined to prove to Professor Snape that she was dedicated to school and learning, and he couldn't hinder her - when she was interrupted.

"Hello, Hermione Granger."

"Nice to see you again."

Hermione froze, her quill hovering above her parchment for a second before she resumed her writing. "Hello, Fred, George," she said calmly.

"We were delighted to see that you were Sorted into Gryffindor," one of them said, darting in front of her so that if she lifted her head one centimeter, he would be visible.

"Except at the feast, we couldn't sit next to you because you were next to Percy."

"And Percy sometimes isn't all that fond of us."

Hermione let out a breath as she placed her quill down, now fully distracted and rather irritated. "Well, I suppose I understand, considering what I've heard about your pranks."

Both of their eyes widened. "Who'd you hear that from?"

"Your brother. People in general. I'll bet anyone who's a second year or above could tell me about them."

"Oh, so that's why you've been avoiding us," said Fred, shaking his head.

"We wondered why you hadn't talked to us for so long." George dramatically put a hand to his heart.

Hermione was not amused. "I haven't been avoiding you," she said haughtily. "And if it appeared that way, it's only because I'm busy with work."

"What's this you're doing here?" George's arm snaked around her and plucked the roll of parchment off the table as Hermione cried out in indignation. "Oh," he said, wrinkling his nose. "Potions. Snape's a lovely chap, don't you think?"

Hermione snatched at her essay, but George pulled it out of her reach. "Give it back, George," she fumed, her face steadily turning a shade of red.

"What are you talking about? I'm Fred!"

"No, you're not, George," said Hermione through gritted teeth.

"I'm not George, he is!" The paper slipped through Hermione's grasping fingers.

She flicked her eyes away from her essay to tell him confidently, "No, you're not. He's Fred, and you're George, and _give me back my essay_!"

Finally, the essay was plucked from George's fingers and she held it in her hands triumphantly. Hermione placed it down on the desk, smoothing a folded corner and making sure that the ink hadn't smeared. When she was satisfied, she made to pick up her quill, but was abruptly stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"What now?" She sighed in exasperation.

Fred leaned in, releasing his hold on her shoulder. "How do you know that I'm Fred, not George?" His face was devoid of expression, and his voice was emotionless.

"Yeah, how do you know that _I'm _not Fred?" asked George, his face a blank slate.

Hermione raised an eyebrow and said dismissively, "Oh, just tiny details."

She looked back down at her essay, taking her quill from the desk and dipping it into the inkpot. There was some scuffling noises from in front of her, but she purposely ignored it until one of the twins spoke again.

"Alright, who's who?" The voice held a note of pride, as if sure that she could not possibly guess correctly.

Hermione pursed her lips as she glanced up in annoyance before taking a few seconds to stare at each twin's face. "You're in the same spots," she said. "Fred's still on the right, George's still on the left. Can I go back to doing my essay now?" she pleaded.

The twins shared a look that immediately told Hermione that no, she was not going to be able to get back to her essay.

George stepped forward. "See, Hermione," he began with wonder.

"You seem to have a very special gift," Fred continued. He was staring very intensely at her, and Hermione shifted in her seat.

"See, not even our mum can tell us apart-"

"-and here you are, after three weeks, and you can already see who's who."

"And that interests us, it interests us very much."

"What's your secret?" the two finished seriously.

Hermione blinked and sighed. "If I tell you, will you please leave me alone?" She made it clear in her expression that if they said no, she would not tell them anything at all.

The two nodded vigorously, and Hermione sighed again.

"Well, I thought you two were completely identical, too," the first-year said. "But on the train, I noticed that while George's eyebrows are more proportionate in length, Fred, your right eyebrow extends further back than your left. And also, George, you've got a freckle right at the left corner of your mouth, while Fred, it's reflected to be on the right corner for you. There's some other minor things that I can't put my finger on, but can I go back to writing now?"

Fred and George shared a grim nod, then said courteously, "Of course, Miss Granger."

And then finally, _finally _the two stepped away from the desk and wandered over to the couch by the fireplace. But ten minutes later, when Hermione allowed her eyes to take a break from her cramped cursive, she looked up to find Fred and George staring at her with identical analytical expressions on their faces.

* * *

Hermione was once more graced with the Weasley twins' presence, unfortunately for her, only two days after the night in the common room.

She was calmly walking to lunch after Transfiguration, trailing behind two of her roommates, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, neither of which seemed aware of her because they were both so deeply engrossed in their discussion of hair, a topic that was both a slightly sensitive and boring for Hermione.

She didn't mind not having friends - that meant more time to study - except it was awfully lonely sometimes on the weekends, when she'd resort to rereading the textbooks for the twentieth time or proof-reading her homework for the fourteenth time to keep herself busy.

"Oi! Miss Granger!"

Hermione instantly recalled and recognized the voice - rather, voices.

"Yes?" she drew out, turning around only to nearly be bowled over by one of the twins. George, she decided.

"We've made a decision!" Fred came up to stand next to her.

George regained his balance as Hermione said, "What?"

"A decision!" repeated George.

"On what?"

"On you." Fred looked very pleased to inform her this.

"On me." She blinked.

"On you," confirmed George with a dazzling grin.

Hermione flickered her gaze from one twin to the other until she said, "Okay," and turned back around, resuming her walk.

"Woah, woah, where're you going?" George ran up to her left while Fred stepped to her right.

"The Great Hall," said Hermione calmly. "I'm hungry."

"Haven't even heard us out, and she's already running away," Fred murmured as if taking note of her reactions. And then she glanced over at him to see him pull out a piece of parchment and wave his wand over it, inky black words forming another bullet point in addition to the few that were already on there.

"What's that?" Hermione snapped, reaching out for the parchment. She swore she saw her name on it.

"Ah, ah. Secret." Fred winked as he rolled the parchment up and slipped it back into his pocket.

"Secret that you'll know if you hear us out," added George heartily.

Hermione only quickened her pace in response, glaring at Fred's pocket as she did so. She desperately wanted to find out what it was, but didn't fancy the idea of digging into his pocket (who knew what pranksters kept in there?).

"Guess not," Fred commented behind her.

The Weasley twins had the advantage of having longer legs than her, so even though Hermione was practically at a jog, they seemed unfazed by her rapidly increasing speed.

"See, Hermione, we've done some thinking since two days ago."

"We're very interested in the fact you can tell us apart. Of course, we knew about the freckle thing, but we didn't know about Fred's eyebrow until you pointed it out. Just another reason why I'm the better twin," George added with a smirk.

"Just another reason why I'm more special," countered Fred. "Anyway, we like that you're more observant than most, and after careful thinking, we think that we'd like you to become our prankster in training!"

Hermione literally stopped in her tracks in horror. "I don't think so," she said quickly. She mentally wondered if the twins were pulling her leg, because wasn't it obvious that she was not the type to be a prankster? She was the person who'd told her primary school teachers every time a classmate cheated or said even one rude comment, for Merlin's sake!

George, who'd taken a few steps before noticing that she'd stopped, spun around and said, "Why not? We're charming. We're kind. We're fun to be around."

"You're pranksters," Hermione blatantly stated, as if that was all it took for a valid explanation. And in her mind, it was.

"All the more fun!" said Fred merrily.

"I'm not interested in being a prankster in training, thanks," she said coolly, pushing her way between them.

"It'll be fun!" called George.

"I'm not going to risk expulsion for a couple of pranks," Hermione snapped.

"Detention and losing House points," Fred corrected. "Well, so far, at least."

She coughed, and her voice was high-pitched when she spoke. "And detention, that's nothing, right?"

Fred and George glanced at each other, shaking their heads in unison. "Nope," they said truthfully.

Hermione continued walking, convinced that the two twins (who thankfully were not following her) were out of their minds. Hadn't they heard from their younger brother, Ronald Weasley, who was in her year? Hermione was a worker. She studied, not pranked. She sought to be the perfect student, not lose House points and get into detentions.

"It would be fun," George said meekly.

"We'd be your best friends," Fred offered.

And even though the comment was a feeble last attempt at prompting her to accept, a comment carelessly thrown out with meager hopes she would catch it, Hermione found herself pausing, dreaming of the possibility of having not one but two friends.

But she didn't look back as she walked away, and it wasn't until she made two _other_ friends of her own that she would be reacquainted with the Weasley twins.

* * *

**So that's the first chapter! I've divided the prologue into two parts, since it turned out rather long :) Prologue Part 2 will be posted next week!**

**- Summer **


	2. Prologue II

**Part 2 of the prologue! Thank you for all the support so far! It means so much to me, I can't even begin to express it. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"_Ronniekins._"

Fred gaped, his wand falling out of his hand. "_What_?" he exclaimed increduously. "No way."

"Yes way," said George grimly. "Our prankster in training has fallen to the clutches of our little brother."

Fred shook his head disbelievingly. This was almost too terrible to be true.

When George had burst into their room, his face wild and hair disheveled, Fred had expected him to say something about Oliver adding yet another Quidditch to their already-hectic schedule.

But the news was much worse. Much, much worse.

Instead, George had pulled Fred to their corner where they kept their pranking supplies and plans and said, "I'm afraid we've lost Hermione - someone else has befriended her first."

"Who?" Fred had asked.

And then George had said the name of their little brother, Ronald, who was almost just as an unlikely choice for Hermione to befriend as the twins were.

Fred chewed on his fingernails. "Well, that means she's friends with Harry Potter, right?"

George nodded. "I saw the three of them laughing and going down to the Great Hall together."

"So Hermione's definitely not going to accept that offer any time soon?"

George snorted. "Seeing as it's been five weeks since we first asked, _no, _you idiot, I don't think she'll be accepting it." And in addition to that, Hermione had gotten accustomed to greeting them with a "no" every time they got within a five-feet radius of her.

"Shame," Fred murmured, shaking his head sadly. "She held so much promise."

"Yeah," George agreed. "No one has ever been able to tell us apart before."

"Maybe being close to Ron will make her closer to us?" Fred suggested hopefully.

"Maybe," his twin said. "Or it'll pull us further apart because little Ronniekins will tell her horror stories about us."

Fred moaned with regret. "We could have had a prodigy on our hands," he said sadly.

"Don't I know, Forge. Don't I know."

* * *

"You're _sure _you're okay, Harry?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"I'm fine," Harry told her for the hundredth time.

She wrung her hands together worriedly, muttering, "Quidditch! See, that sport is just a beacon for trouble."

"He's fine, Hermione," said Ron, awkwardly patting Harry's back. "And you set Snape's robes on fire and stopped him from hexing Harry, so I really don't see what the problem is!"

"The _problem _is that if he does it once, there's always the chance he'll do it again," said Hermione.

"We'll keep a watch on him, then," said Ron dismissively. "Spy on him, if you want."

"But that's the thing!" Hermione cried out. "I don't know how. I don't spend my spare time spying on teachers, you know."

"Then stop worrying about it. Really, I'm fine, Hermione." Harry looked at her earnestly, standing up from their spot in the library and waving his arms to prove his point.

She bit her lip indecisively.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Come on. Let's just get back to searching for this Flamel bloke."

As soon as Hagrid had mentioned Nicolas Flamel, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had rushed off to the library, excited to get a new lead. Unfortunately, the past two hours had gotten them nowhere closer to the mark - Nicolas Flamel didn't seem to want to be found in any of the tomes they picked out.

Hermione distractedly flipped through a large book about wizards in the twentieth century. She found herself worrying about Harry again - he'd almost fallen off his broomstick, and to think that it could happen once more… Her grip on the book tightened. She had to ensure that Harry wouldn't be thrown off his broom a hundred feet from the ground, that Snape wouldn't be doing anything suspicious like that again. But how?

The answer came to her an hour later, when they were eating dinner in the Great Hall. She sat on the left of Harry, who was reveling in Gryffindor's victory with Ron and Oliver Wood.

Across from her were the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan, who had taken to sitting across from her during meals, hoping she would accept their ridiculous prankster offer that she was certain she'd turned down over one hundred times.

"See," Fred was saying quietly as the three pored over a piece of parchment hidden under the table, "thanks to the information George got from Alicia and Katie, we'll be able to prank them just about here without them noticing."

"Yeah, and if they catch us, they're going to hex us to oblivion," Lee pointed out.

George waved his hand in the air carelessly. "Ah, they won't catch us. We're masters at sneaking around like that."

Hermione stopped chewing at these words and looked up, watching the three carefully as her mind raced and she contemplated her options.

Later that night, when Harry and Ron had retired to bed, Hermione marched up to the little corner in the Gryffindor common room where Fred, George, and Lee sat, their eyes riveted onto what looked like a map.

She cleared her throat, a sound that made Lee glance up.

"Hey, Hermione!" said Lee cheerfully, which brought Fred and George's attention up to the first-year.

"Hermione!" said George.

"Pleasant surprise," said Fred while folding up the parchment and shoving it into George's pocket.

Hermione went straight to the point, wanting to spare herself the agony of the embarrassing thing she was just about to ask of them. "I need your help."

All three of the third-years' eyebrows shot up. "Well, this is new," commented George.

"Tell us more," said Fred, nodding as he leaned back in his chair with a smirk. He seemed to like the idea that she was asking them for help.

She ignored his smirk, as she was already painfully aware that she - Hermione Jean Granger - was _asking someone for help_, and said almost exclusively to George and Lee, "I want you to follow Professor Snape around."

"You want us to follow Snape?" Lee repeated, and she nodded.

"I just want to make sure he's not going to try to do anything with Harry," she explained.

"Oh, right." George's face darkened. "Ron told us about the Quidditch match. Nice job with the fire, by the way."

Fred and Lee nodded appreciatively.

"Thanks," Hermione said, faintly blushing, "but really. Could you three just follow him around for a few days, and see if he's up to anything fishy?"

"Follow him around everywhere?" Fred gave George a sly grin, and his twin immediately caught on.

"Oh yes, Hermione, we'll report to you _everything _we see. Absolutely everything, everywhere. Where he sleeps."

"What he eats."

"When he uses the loo."

"When he showers."

"How hard he tries to wash the grease out of his hair."

"_Why _his hair is so greasy."

The two grinned. "Absolutely everything."

Hermione bit back a growl. "Well," she said haughtily. "I suppose I'll just find someone else to help me, who doesn't see this as just a joke." She turned on her heel, only to be stopped by George's hand around her wrist.

"Wait, where are you going?"

She simply glared at him and pulled free of his grasp.

"We want to do it," said Fred. "Really."

"To help Harry, of course," added Lee.

Hermione stared at each of their earnest faces suspiciously.

"We really will do it," said Fred. "Just one thing."

"A price, if you will," George said.

"Forget it," she said, shaking her head.

"It won't be all that bad! Just a little price."

She had the feeling that it wasn't going to be paid for in currency. "What is it?" she sighed.

"What else?" Lee grinned.

She pursed her lips as the three boys stared at her hopefully. "No," said Hermione flatly.

"Yes," countered George. "If you want us to do it."

"I'm not going to be your prankster!" said Hermione, throwing her hands in the air.

"But you have so much promise," Fred protested. "First with the eyebrow thing, then with the attitude, and now with the fire!"

"The _attitude_?" demanded Hermione. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Er, the lively way you present yourself to us," said Lee quickly. "A compliment, it's a compliment."

"A compliment." The twins nodded vigorously.

Hermione glared at them. "Well, either way, I refuse to your prankster-in-training, or whatever it is that you want me to be."

"Well, then we haven't got ourselves a deal," murmured Fred.

Hermione huffed, her eyes narrowing at the three pranksters. She obviously did not want to become a prankster - the very thought of it was ludicrous, and she was certain that anyone who knew her would agree. Anyone save the twins and Lee, of course.

But at the same time, they were still her only hope of keeping an eye on Snape. She'd do it herself, but honestly… she didn't know _how _to spy on people inconspicuously. And Harry would probably go mad if she, or anyone else for that matter, mentioned the Quidditch incident one more time.

"You wouldn't have to start just yet," added George.

"Oh, of course not!" said Fred, shaking his head. "Completely forgot to tell you. No, you wouldn't start anytime soon. Not this year, probably not the next."

Hermione blinked. "Why ever not?"

"_Because_," said George helpfully.

"Because you need to establish your good-girl persona first," Lee explained.

"What?"

Fred spoke up. "Persona. The role that you play as a-"

"I know what a persona is," Hermione snapped.

"Then what's the problem? We just want you to gather up the identity of Hermione Granger, the perfect student, before we begin working on you."

"Doesn't that sound pleasant," she retorted sarcastically.

Fred shrugged. "Hey. It'll work."

"So what do you say? It'll be at least two years before we start training you," said George.

"We promise," Lee nodded. Hermione vaguely thought that it was smart for him, not the twins, to say that, because a promise coming from the twins meant virtually nothing for her.

The three waited patiently for her answer, though the hope was detectable in Fred's eyes, George's smile, and Lee's crossed fingers.

Hermione sighed. This was ridiculous.

"Fine," she said shortly when she could not find a reason to stall any longer. "But I'm only doing this to help Harry." And of course, with the hope that they'd forget about this deal before the two years finished.

The three let out a huge cheer that brought a few stares their way.

When they settled down, Fred gave her a brilliant smile. "Perfect! Welcome to the crew."

George clapped enthusiastically. "We'll come fetch you when we think it's time, alright?"

"But for now, it'll stay our little secret." Fred winked at her as she rolled her eyes.

"Alright," she said uncomfortably, wondering what she'd gotten herself into. "So you'll keep an eye on Snape?"

"Yes," Lee affirmed.

Hermione nodded and turned around. "Good."

"Remember," said Fred, "in about two years."

"Of course," murmured Hermione as she walked towards the girls' staircase.

Behind her, one of the twins called, "Oh, and Hermione! Just so that you don't think we've got cold, heartless souls - we'd still have done it even if you hadn't said yes, we just wanted to test our luck!"

The Gryffindors milling in the common room were all alerted to the back corner at the sound of a high-pitched yelp coming from a Weasley twin as the tip of a quill poked his arm before falling harmlessly to the ground.

And none of them understood when the twins started to laugh after the brief moment of surprise and say, "See? The perfect candidate."

* * *

**And that's the end of the prologue :) The real fifth-year stuff shall take place starting the next chapter! Hope you guys like it so far!**


	3. A Brilliant Prankster

**Hey everyone again! Thanks so much for all the support - it's been amazing to go into my inbox and see all these follows, favorites, reviews; thank you so much! ****This chapter will take place in the time that this fic is actually going to take place in - Hermione's fifth year and the twins' seventh year! **

**Hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

True to their word, the Weasley twins did not approach Hermione about the prankster ordeal in her first or second year, though they didn't give the slightest indication that they forgot.

When Dumbledore awarded her points for her logic that cracked the secrets to the potions guarding the Sorcerer's Stone, she was immediately met with two pairs of blue eyes, one pair of brown eyes, and six thumbs-ups.

When Harry and Ron recounted the story of the Chamber and how she'd figured out the basilisk was the culprit, Fred had leaned over and whispered, "Observant, attitude, brains, _and _cautious!" in a very pleased tone.

He hadn't been as pleased when she'd accidentally slapped his face because she was so startled to hear his voice in her ear, but George just roared with laughter and said cheerfully, "Plus, fast reflexes!"

But when third year passed by without an abundance of these little reminders, Hermione was ecstatic. Perhaps there was a chance that they'd forgotten, or they'd finally realized that she was in no way cut out to be a prankster. She didn't dare ask them about it, for fear that they had actually forgotten and that she'd remind them.

And when fourth year, the year of the Triwizard Tournament, flew past without a _single _confrontation about it from either Fred, George, or Lee, Hermione gave a tremendous sigh of relief and finally released her tight grasp on the memory of her little first-year self agreeing to such a ridiculous prospect, dismissing it as a spontaneous offer from the twins that obviously was only made to play with her.

How very wrong she was.

It was during the last week of summer before fifth year that the two came to approach her in Sirius's house, Grimmauld Place Number 12.

Hermione was up in the room where she and Ginny slept, rereading her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, when a large _crack_ resonated in the room.

Hermione bit back a shriek as Fred and George stood at her bedside, identical grins on their face.

"Hello, Hermione," the two chorused.

"Can you two please refrain from doing that?" Hermione asked weakly.

"Of course not," said George.

"We needed to make an entrance," said Fred.

Hermione sighed and said, "Ginny's downstairs."

"We're not looking for Ginny."

"Then why are you here?" she asked, puzzled.

The mischievous grins on Fred and George's faces were so wide and full of humor that Hermione deeply regretted asking.

"Well, dear Hermione," George started happily.

"We've come to tell you that your prankster training begins this very year!"

"My training?" Hermione repeated, before closing her eyes in horror. Merlin. She'd thought they'd forgotten. _She'd _almost forgotten. Hadn't they?

As if she'd spoken the words aloud, Fred added, "We didn't forget last year or the year before that, you know."

"Yeah," George said. "We just wanted to wait a little longer, since third year, you were taking, what, ten classes?"

"And last year, you had to help Harry with the tournament. Otherwise, we'd have started then."

"And so… this year, it is!"

Hermione opened her eyes, gently shutting her book. "Is this really necessary?"

"Of course!" George looked wounded that she'd asked. "To be a prankster, you've got to have proper training."

She glared at him. "I meant this entire thing. It's ridiculous!"

Fred wagged a finger. "Ah, ah, no backing out. You promised."

"My twelve-year-old self promised," corrected Hermione. "And that was four years ago."

"We did warn you," said Fred.

"We did tell you that we'd come fetch you when it was time," said George.

"We did promise," said the twins together.

Hermione got up from her bed, holding up the book so it was in clear sight. "Fred. George. Look at me. Remember that I've been telling you two to stop pranking others since my first year. Do you honestly think I'd be a good prankster?"

"Yes."

She threw both hands up, waving them wildly as she said, "I'm Hermione Granger, for Merlin's sake! I don't go around _pranking _people!"

"All you need is a push in the right direction!" said George encouragingly.

"I don't want a push!" Hermione sighed. "I'd rather _not_ get detentions and lose House points, thanks."

"You still promised," Fred pointed out. "And don't forget that part of the reason why we didn't immediately take you in was because we wanted you to establish that perfect-student role."

"I – well – I naturally like to get my work done neatly and on time."

"Either way," said George, "we still would like you to be our prankster in training. You promised us that in return for us spying on Snape."

Hermione did not retort. Indeed, Fred, George, and Lee had spent a month spying on Snape and reporting back to her. The reason Harry and Ron had never found it out was because for some reason, the three pranksters could not find anything wrong with what Snape was doing - of course, they figured out why, after Harry discovered the Quirrell was the person who was helping You-Know-Who.

"You promised," Fred sang.

She turned from them, fiddling with the book cover before she placed it down on her bed and forced herself to meet their blue eyes that so matched Ron's.

"_Fine_," Hermione said, irritated she was giving in so easily. "Only because I want to keep the promise that I made."

The scene of the twins high-fiving and letting out a cheer made her entirely reminiscent of when she'd first gotten herself into this predicament.

"Alright, alright," said Hermione loudly. "How long will this training take? Can we finish today? Or tomorrow, actually, because all of us have to help your mum clean the cabinets in the drawing room tonight."

The twins' eyes widened. "Oh, no, Hermione," they said, shaking their heads.

"Not today."

"Not tomorrow."

"It's not a one-day thing, you know," Fred said.

"Nowhere as short as a week."

"What?!" Hermione's eyes flashed dangerously as she sent both boys deathly glares. "You never told me that!"

"Well, we thought it was evident, you see-"

"Well, it wasn't!" Hermione growled.

"Training. Not 'lesson'. Training over a period of time."

"Don't worry, it'll only take a year. Not too lo- Merlin's pants, woman!" Fred danced away as a crumpled piece of parchment was aimed at his face.

"_Only_ a year?" Hermione's expression was livid and she stormed towards the twins, who backed away from her pointed finger. "I've got to study for O.W.L.s this year!"

"Only in the last month," George said in a small voice.

"Last mo- _No_, actually, George, I've got to start in January!"

Fred looked as if he was going to protest, but thought better of it. "Well, you've got first semester, then," he said hopefully.

"But there's other things!" Hermione started to ramble, more to herself than the twins. "There's classes, which I know will be much harder this year, more homework because teachers will be preparing us for the exams, and I'll have to help Harry and Ron with their homework without letting them copy, because Harry's got Quidditch and Ron's going to be lazy, and then there's the fact that Harry's probably still dealing with what he went through in the maze, the fact that You-Know-Who's back, and then there's probably all these terrible rumours spreading around because of the _Prophet_, and then-"

She stopped, feeling rather helpless as she glanced from one twin to the other. This helplessness quickly morphed into suspicion as she realized both Fred and George looked thoroughly guilty.

The twins did not usually feel guilty for much anything.

"Er," said George hesitantly, "don't be mad at us-"

"-or any more mad than you already are-"

"-because we really do understand you've a lot on your plate this year, and we would let this go if we could-"

"-but we're afraid that we…can't," finished Fred meekly.

"What do you mean, you _can't_?" Hermione crossed her arms very tightly.

"Well…" George looked as though he desperately wanted to Apparate away rather than tell her. "Well, I don't think we realized how busy you'd be, or that you'd ever not want to be a prankster with us, but when you came to us as a tiny little first-year, we kind of…"

"We kind of put a sort of Binding Charm on you," said Fred in a small voice.

Both cowered under Hermione's icy glare. "You did _what_?"

"It was just because you're such a good candidate for this training!" said George frantically. "We couldn't let you go then, how were we supposed to know that we'd ever become willing to let you go?"

"It was a precaution," added Fred swiftly. "Just a small one, binding you to the promise so that you couldn't refuse-"

"- we didn't expect you wouldn't be willing -"

"- it was just a precaution -"

"- we would let it go if we could, but we can't -"

"- please forgive us, Hermione -"

Hermione gritted her teeth. "Prove it," she shot at them. "How do I know you're not lying just to get me to do your ridiculous prankster training?"

Fred and George shared a look, and Fred pulled out a small, slightly worn piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it to her.

Glaring at them, Hermione glanced down at the paper, which read:

_The Binding Charm on Hermione Granger took place on November 24, 1991 at 9:37 pm._

_Caster: Fred Weasley_

_Consequences: Mania_

"What exactly," said Hermione as calmly as she possibly could, "does 'mania' refer to?"

"Er, well, see, that's why we think you'd prefer training over breaking the charm because, well, you're a prefect-"

"Get to the point, Fred."

"Well, see, mania is really just what it means. You'll act crazy for a bit. You know, just like Peeves."

"I'll be like Peeves?" It was such a ludicrous idea that she almost laughed aloud when Fred said it. But she didn't put it past the twins to do something like this, even as third years.

"Yeah, for maybe a week."

"And if I - if I went crazy for a week, I wouldn't have to do the pranking thing, correct?" said Hermione distastefully.

"Yes, you are!" The twins looked very pleased to see she was taking it nicely until she exploded at them.

"WELL THAT DOESN'T GIVE ME MUCH ROOM FOR CHOICE, DOES IT? SCHOOL STARTS IN THREE DAYS! I CAN'T GO TO SCHOOL ACTING LIKE - LIKE _PEEVES_! I'M A PREFECT, I CAN'T START ACTING LIKE PEEVES, THAT WOULD MAKE A BAD IMPRESSION, BUT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THAT? OF COURSE NOT!"

Hermione turned her back to them and snatched the book off her bed, flipping angrily through the pages.

"So - so you're going to do it?" asked George timidly after it became clear she was not going to speak without prompting her.

"Well, it's not like I've got that much of a choice," she said coldly, looking very murderous at the thought.

"That's… that's really great," offered Fred. He got a brisk, derisive snort in reply.

George gulped. "Er, Hermione? We're sorry about the charm. It did kind of complicate things."

"Kind of!" Hermione said shrilly, not realizing that her book was upside down. "Yeah, it _kind of _did." She looked up, as if just realizing they were still in the room, and asked icily, "What are you still doing here?"

"Er, sorry-"

"-bye, Hermione-"

The twins did not need any further prompting, and Apparated out of the room before she could change her mind and hex them. And, she thought rather savagely, she was very close to doing exactly that.

* * *

Back in their room, the twins winced at the exact same time and glanced at each other.

"Well, we got out unscathed," said George grimly.

"For now," said Fred, almost, _almost_ dreading the next encounter with Hermione about this prankster training. But...they had managed to convince her, which was more than they could have said ten minutes ago.

"But you know," said George, voicing Fred's exact thoughts with a small smile appearing on his face, "we've got a little apprentice now."

Fred started to grin as well. "Miss Hermione Granger, Prefect, hater of pranks."

"She's going to be perfect," George laughed, throwing himself on his bed.

"A little uptight right now, but with time, she'll be-"

"-a brilliant prankster," the two happily chorused with identical satisfaction.

* * *

**A little shorter than the previous two, but I felt like it ended nicely here! Hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next time,**

**Summer :)**


	4. Peppermint

******Hey, everyone! Thank you so much for all of the favs/follows/reviews - they make my day, honestly. I am so s********orry I haven't updated in like two months; I've been really busy with school and volunteering and tutoring and everything... The real high school life has finally hit me, I guess.. :)  
**

******Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I started writing it two months ago, and have been adding bits to it every now and then, so it may seem kind of choppy. **

******All the same, enjoy!**

* * *

As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station, Hermione and Ron apologetically bid Harry goodbye.

"Sorry, mate," Ron said. "It's just-" He paused and gestured helplessly at the prefect badge in his hand. "You know."

"We'll see you later, Harry," said Hermione anxiously, carefully watching Harry's expression as he turned from them.

"Yeah," said Harry heavily. "See you."

"See you, mate," Ron said as he and Hermione spun around started to make their way to the prefect compartment. "Er… which way is the compartment?"

Hermione led the way, their trunks rolling across the train floor. She cast a long look over her shoulder and sighed. "Part of me wishes we didn't have to go to this meeting."

"Me too," said Ron with a nervous laugh. "Surrounded by _prefects_."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "In case you haven't noticed, you're a prefect. And I didn't mean that, I meant Harry. I don't want to leave him."

"You sound like Mum whenever we have to leave Fred and George at home alone."

"Ron," said Hermione exasperatedly.

"Hey, but if you think about it, this is the first ride we haven't gone on with him," said Ron forlornly. "Well, at least the first one _I _haven't been on with him. Unless you count how you rudely came in our compartment first year."

Hermione shot him a glare over her shoulder. "You weren't that chivalrous yourself," she retorted.

"You insulted my magic just because-"

"It was ridiculous!" exclaimed Hermione.

"And then you pointed out the dirt on my nose," said Ron indignantly.

"So that you could freshen yourself up before the Sorting!"

Before Ron could shoot back a response, someone called out, "Oi, keep it up and you'll become like Fred and me!"

Hermione immediately stopped in her tracks, fully expecting the twins to Apparate in front of her like they had every day of summer. Ron crashed into her from behind.

"Merlin, Hermione, what're you doing?"

"No, Ronniekins," Fred said as he and George popped out of a compartment and took places on either side of Hermione. "That's not how you do it. You have to say 'Merlin, Hermione'-"

"-and then she has to finish it for you," said George seriously.

"Then you can be just like us." Fred grinned cheekily.

"Charming," grumbled Ron.

Hermione sniffed. "Come on, Ron. We're going to be late." She started down the hallway again, completely ignoring the stares from Fred and George.

Ever since they'd told her that she practically had no choice but to go through their _ridiculous _year-long training, Hermione had taken giving the cold shoulder to an extreme. She did not simply ignore the twins when they walked into the room. She positively disintegrated them with her lack of acknowledgement. She might as well have put an Invisibility Charm on the twins, for all they existed.

The twins, Hermione had to admit, were very Gryffindor about it. They were seemingly unfazed by her iciness, though it was true that they always hesitated before boisterously trying to strike up a conversation with her, a goal that was unattainable by all means. They'd have better luck trying to talk to the portrait of Sirius's mother, Ginny once commented to her as Fred and George left the dining room with glum expressions on their faces.

Obviously, an act so extreme did not go unnoticed by anyone, though they all believed it was because the twins' constant jokes about Kreacher combined with their renewed vigor for pranking had finally gotten to Hermione after the entire summer.

She almost wished that were the case.

Hermione sighed with annoyance at her situation, and fueled some of that irritation towards Ron as she came to a stop at the end of the hall. "Well?" she demanded rather crossly. "Come on."

"Right," said Ron, glancing hesitantly at the twins. The tips of his ears turned a bright shade of red, and he shifted so that the sleeve of his jacket fell over the prefect badge in his hand.

"Ooh, the prefect compartment," George sang, shooting Ron a delighted look.

"Our favorite place to prank on the train!" declared Fred.

Hermione could feel their eyes boring into her back, goading her to react, but she only said impatiently, "Come _on_, Ron."

"Bug off, won't you?" Ron said to his brothers, who simultaneously cackled and said, "Oh, but that won't do, Prefect Ronniekins!"

"What, are you going to force us into detention?" asked George, and it startled Hermione to know that she could distinguish the twins by their voices alone.

She shook her head as if to shake out the thought, but now that it was there, she could not forget this new ability of hers. From behind her, Fred said, "Ooh, we're terrified."

"Shut up," said Ron.

"What should we do this time, Forge?" said George thoughtfully. "Something along Peeves' style? Or something subtle in the food, maybe?"

Hermione was unable to keep quiet any longer. She was practically bursting with the need to speak. "Why you would do that is beyond me, seeing as that's where everyone capable of giving out detentions is," she said scathingly.

"Oh, but you won't give us detentions, will you, Hermione?" said Fred sweetly.

"I could very well," she snapped.

Fred sighed and said to George, "Told you she'd be rogue. Hard to handle."

"Good thing we had the foresight to think of this lesson," George agreed.

"What lesson?" asked Ron, clearly bewildered. But Hermione just silently shook her head and started to walk again.

"Pre-lesson number one!" said George, running up so that he was ahead of Hermione.

She pushed him aside as Fred said, "Never put your trainers in detention."

"Got that, Hermione?"

"Certainly," she said through gritted teeth.

"Repeat!"

She bit back the impulse to lash out at them. It would most likely be easier to simply oblige and let them leave. "Never put your trainers in detention. And don't order me around!" she couldn't help but add with a scowl.

"Perfect!" said George, ignoring her last comment.

"A natural," Fred said, shaking his head.

"What the ruddy hell is going on?" Ron asked from behind them. He hadn't followed the twins and Hermione when they started walking and the look on his face would have been comical, except the twins chose that moment to bid them adieu (and leave Hermione with Ron's questions).

"Excellent work, Hermione! We'll see you both up at Hogwarts!"

Fred and George bounded off as quickly as they had come, leaving Ron staring at their backs, befuddled.

"What was that all about?" Ron turned to Hermione, who resumed walking.

"Not really sure," Hermione said shortly, having already made a firm resolve to keep her prankster training to herself and the twins.

"What did they even say? Something about a lesson?" Ron followed her only to stop again, incredulity dawning on his face. "Are you _tutoring _them, Hermione?!"

"What? Of course not, don't be ridiculous."

"I'll bet Mum put you up to it!" said Ron. "She's probably still angry over the fact they only scraped a few N.E.W.T.s each, and asked you to tutor them!"

"And I would jump at the chance to teach the twins," said Hermione sarcastically.

"Oh – yeah, you're right…" Ron trailed off. "But wait – didn't they say something about a lesson that they planned?"

Hermione sighed as they rounded a corner and reached the prefect carriage. She tried to peer through the curtains while saying offhandedly, "I told you, it's nothing, Ron. Besides, you know Fred and George, they're always going around saying things that hardly make any sense." She pushed open the door.

"Yeah, but –" Ron's mouth dropped in horror as they entered the carriage, suddenly distracted. "Oh, Merlin."

"What?"

"Look who are the Slytherin prefects," Ron said in disgust.

Hermione glanced toward the spot Ron was glaring at to see Draco Malfoy smirking as Pansy Parkinson flounced around him.

"Wonderful," she sighed.

* * *

"First years! First years, this way!" Hermione called, waving an arm to gather up the small, timid students who were all looking at Ron very apprehensively.

"_Ron_," Hermione hissed as Ron loudly declared that he had definitely been at least four inches taller than the boy he was talking to when he was a first year. Hermione spotted Pansy Parkinson snickering at them out of the corner of her eye.

"What? Oh, right. Come on, you lot."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him as they led the way up the moving staircases and through corridors to the portrait of the Fat Lady. By the time they reached the seventh floor corridor, the first years were looking a bit green from all the turning and walking after such a fine meal, but Hermione smiled, glad to be home.

"Ooh, first years!" trilled the Fat Lady kindly. "Nice to meet you all." Some of the first years looked startled at being addressed so directly, but others, likely purebloods or half-bloods, greeted the Fat Lady with a sort of starstruck wonder that could only be derived from hearing stories about her portrait.

"The password's _Mimbulus mimbletonia_," said Ron. The portrait swung open.

"Just remember that, and you'll be fine," Hermione said brightly. "If you have any questions about your schedule, which you'll be receiving tomorrow morning, don't hesitate to ask! We're here to help."

Hermione and Ron let the last of the first years trickle in before climbing in themselves. Ron yawned. "I think I'll go up to bed now. Harry's up already."

"Good night," she called after him.

Hermione, too, was about to walk up the girls' staircase when a not-so-quiet "Granger!" shot across the room.

She spun around, frowning at George as he bounded up next to her. "What?"

"Come, come," said George hastily, guiding her towards where Fred and Lee were wearing very smug expressions on their faces. "We're going to officially brand you into our group."

"Brand me? You're going to brand me?" Hermione tried to pull her arm out of his grasp.

"Er, no, not brand. It's just an initiation of sorts," blundered George with what he probably hoped was a winning smile.

"Classes start tomorrow, George. I don't have time for—"

"No offense, Hermione, but with both Harry and Ron as your friends, it's a wonder you have time for anything. Ah, here we are."

Lee got up from his seat and shook Hermione's hand. "So glad you've finally joined us," he said solemnly.

"Yes, Lee's been wanting someone clever on our team. As if we're not clever enough," said Fred dramatically.

"We just need someone who can put the final touches on our plans," said Lee earnestly. "Because these idiots tend to go right into the pranking; it's like their hormones have been rigged for pranks, not girls."

"Not true!" cried out George, looking rather wounded at the thought. "Not true, not true at all!"

"First of all, we do like to plan everything out. Nothing worse than a prank gone wrong! Forgive us if we don't go through all the meticulous details," said Fred.

"Though we do appreciate your cleverness, it'll help us," George said quickly to Hermione, who nodded numbly. Her mind raced with apprehension. She wasn't going to help them _prank others_, was she?

"Anyway," said Fred. "For your second point, we are most definitely attracted to girls, and it helps that the majority of the ladies are rightfully attracted to us."

"Yeah, Jordan, are you accusing us of not being manly enough? Because I'll have you know-"

"-that we-"

"-are _very _masculine, and if you want proof-"

They paused with identical smirks on their faces, and Hermione, who had no desire to know how they were going to prove their masculinity, leapt at the chance to break in and say, "Hate to ruin this riveting conversation, but could we get on with it? I would love to have some sleep before the first days of classes."

The twins blinked for a moment at her interruption, and then began to nod fervently.

"Of course, of course," ambled George, whipping out what looked suspiciously like one of the twins' homemade products. "Sorry, we got sidetracked. Don't worry, Hermione, this'll only take a couple of minutes."

Fred smiled. "It's very easy, too." He glanced around the common room. "And lucky you, there doesn't seem to be a lot of people around!"

Hermione raised her eyebrow. That did not sound promising.

"Don't worry, what you have to do is way easier than my initiation," said Lee. "Godric, these two were _merciless_on poor little me. And what did they ever have to do to be initiated? Nothing!"

"Obviously, Jordan, you haven't lived with our mum," said George with a shudder.

"Besides," said Fred jovially, "yours wasn't all that bad."

"Though you're right, Hermione's got it a hundred Chocolate Frogs easier," said George.

Hermione gave a tight smile, not in the slightest relieved by their discussion. "And what exactly is it that I have to do?" she asked while suspiciously glancing at his hand.

"Thought you'd never ask!" George grinned, then revealed what he was holding with a flourish of his hand. "All we ask is that you trust us and eat this." And in his hand lay a small white stick of peppermint, no bigger than half his smallest finger.

Hermine did not have to think twice about her answer. "Absolutely not," she said firmly, subconsciously backing away from George's outstretched palm.

"We didn't poison it." Fred grinned at the thought.

"I didn't say you did," she said, though it had just crossed her mind. "But it doesn't take much imagination to think of a lot worse things you are capable of doing to it."

"You hear that?" George beamed, making an exaggerated thumbs-up. "She said we're capable."

Lee pushed George. "Idiot," he said, and Fred shook his head at George's antics.

George shoved Lee back with his free hand, and within seconds, the two were flapping their hands at each other in a rather feminine sort of brawl.

Hermione ignored them and instead warily watched the peppermint stick roll with George's movements.

"Go on," said Fred encouragingly. "Try it!"

Hermione shook her head. She was certainly not at the point of trusting the twins, and even less their candy.

"Why not?"

"I've seen some of your products," she said stiffly. She cast a wary glance around her. Indeed, there were only about four other people in the common room, but that felt like four people too many.

"Really, Hermione - ow - it won't be - sweet Merlin, Jordan! - too bad," George grunted from his seat. Fred leaned over and plucked the peppermint from his twin's hand.

He held it out to Hermione, who gingerly took it and sniffed. It did smelllike peppermint, but that didn't mean it was what it seemed.

"Do I honestly have to eat this?" she asked, eyeing the candy. "I agreed to training, and only because I _have _to. Nowhere in the contract does it say that I have to be your taste tester."

Fred looked horrified at the thought. "Oh, no, Hermione! You're not our tester, of _course_not! See, we perfected this peppermint ages ago; the only reason why we haven't got a bunch is because it takes a long time to make them. And we would never make our prankster eat potentially unstable candies." He paused, and added, "Yet." Catching her eye, he grinned. "Just kidding."

Hermione sighed, twirling the stick with her fingers. "But I don't see why I have to eat it, it's not part of the training." She made to give the candy back to Fred, but he put his hands behind his back, shaking his head.

"Oh, no," said Fred. "It's all yours."

"Come on, Hermione," called Lee. "Please?"

She shook her head and turned. "I'm going up to bed. Good night."

"Wait!"

"_What_, George?"

"Just wait a moment, here-"

Hermione irritatedly turned back, crossing her arms very tightly. "What?"

Fred, George, and Lee exchanged glances for a long time, evidently having a silent conversation with each other.

Finally, as Hermione was considering slipping away, Fred spoke up. "Okay, Hermione, we've come up with a compromise."

"We're willing to make a trade," said Lee carefully.

"What sort?" Hermione asked warily.

"We'll shorten your training by one month at the end if you eat the candy."

"A month?" It didn't sound like much time, but considering the events that had happened just today, Hermione realized how nice taking an entire month off of her ridiculous "training" sounded. She stared at the candy between her fingers. "How about two?"

"One and a half," said Fred after another silent conversation between the three.

Hermione bit her lip, rolling the peppermint back and forth.

Sensing her borderline acceptance, George said eagerly, "And the candy - really, Hermione, it's not bad at all."

"It's not going to make me break any rules," she stated stonily.

"No," Lee promised.

"I'm not going to explode."

"As if we'd do that to our prankster," Fred smile.

"And training will be over in May."

"Correct," said George. "Well, unless it ends up you love being a prankster so much that you want to spend another month and a half with us…"

Hermione inspected the glossy white surface of the mint silently. She really needed to get up to bed, or she'd fall asleep in class tomorrow. And the twins and Lee's terms didn't seem too bad… "If I end up making a fool of myself," she warned, "I _will _take House points away."

Fred shrugged. "Agreed."

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Hermione said almost sadly. It seemed that was becoming a common phrase for her to use in accordance with her prankster training. Before she could back out, she put the little peppermint stick into her mouth.

For a few seconds, nothing happened, and Hermione's heart lurched with hope. Perhaps this was all a hoax by the boys; maybe there was nothing in the peppermint at all.

But then the tickling sensation hit her body.

Starting from her toes and up, Hermione suddenly found that she was on the ground, rolling and squirming with laughter, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. The tickles seemed to laugh right along with her, and she vaguely thought that this was what a Cheering Charm would feel like.

And then just as quickly as the tickles came, they left, leaving Hermione on the ground, laughing until she realized there was no reason to anymore. She twitched her fingers to make sure she wasn't a bird (she'd become rather terrified of their Canary Creams). The peppermint was still in her mouth, and as she looked down at herself, she wasn't a canary, or painted in a shade of blue, or anything like that. She seemed to be normal enough.

"That wasn't too bad, was it?" Fred said knowingly as she slowly lifted herself off the floor, straightening her clothes and her hair. She blushed as she noticed the other four Gryffindors in the room watching her curiously.

Hermione nodded uncertainly, brushing invisible dust from her shirt. She rolled the peppermint in her mouth with her tongue. After a few moments of concentrating on the candy, Hermione dared to ask carefully, "Er, was that it?"

George beamed while Fred and Lee nodded. "Certainly was!"

She raised her eyebrows. Surely that could not be it? She glanced down, turning her arms to be certain nothing had happened to them. She peeked through the corner of her eyes at her hair, which was still its plain brown color. "That's it?" she repeated. She'd expected something much, much worse.

"Yup!" Lee said very cheerfully. "We just thought we should put you in a good mood, see, for classes tomorrow."

"Everyone needs a moral booster before the start of school," Fred explained, grinning at her.

Part of her wanted to be angry at them (she _did _categorize rolling around on the floor like a lunatic as "making a fool of herself"), but perhaps she was too tired, or perhaps she really did feel like the candy had lifted her mood, but Hermione just nodded cautiously, and decided to test her luck. "Er, so I can leave?"

"Sure, sure!" said George easily, a remarkable difference from his protests before she'd eaten the candy.

The thought that that was it was too good to be true was paired with her relief that the the initiation was over. She bid the three a wary "Goodnight," and went up to her dorm, every few seconds, checking to see if she was turning into a bird. No feathers started forming, so she took that as a good sign.

Though there did not seem to be anything wrong, as she changed into her pajamas, Hermione cast a Revealing Charm over herself, thinking perhaps while she was laughing, the boys had put some sort of charm on her. However, no secret charms were revealed, and Hermione put her wand on her bedside table, content that her "initiation" really hadn't been more than eating a bit of candy that made her laugh. She crept into bed thinking that perhaps the training was not going to be as bad as it appeared.

This optimistic thought did not last long, as, the next morning, Hermione woke up to find a great, colorful tattoo on her right forearm that said "Our Prankster in Training! Love, Fred, George, and Lee".

It smelled faintly of peppermint.

* * *

**I'm not going to promise that the next chapter will be up soon, but I do expect it won't take as long for me to update this time (I can practically feel myself learning well-needed time management skills). ****But next chapter is when the training really starts, so I'm super hyped up about that!  
****Thanks again for all the feedback, everyone!**

**xo, Summer**


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